Under the Stars
by The Sarcastic Polar Bear
Summary: What if Mal and Natara hadn't walked away after he made his confession? This time, they stick around to answer a special question. Alternate ending.


**Hi, everyone! This is just a little alternate ending to last week's episode. I am a Now Airing player, just sayin'. This might be a bit confusing to read, because the italic parts are meant to be flashbacks, and all the of the quotes are directly from the game, as you should know. The very conclusion is my own idea.**

Now, I'll shut my big mouth and let y'all folks read this.

Mal Fallon hadn't had the best of luck with relationships. He couldn't fully understand why. It wasn't that women walked in the other direction once he introduced himself. That was Kai's problem.

His marriage with Sandra had seemed like the right thing when he was twenty. They were both young, barely into college. Although it was surprising that they made it twelve years. Despite the fact, it still hurt to find out that she had been unfaithful.

Then came Natara Williams. He couldn't find the right single word to describe her. It took several. Intelligent? Extremely. Beautiful? Absolutely. Tough? Very.

He could clearly remember the day they had met, when Natara had been sent to assist him with the Maskmaker case.

_"Special Agent Natara Williams," she had introduced._

_"Can I call you Nat?"_

_"You can call me Special Agent Williams." _

And he knew from that moment that he, Detective Malachi Charles Fallon, was in love with Special Agent Natara Williams. His marriage had only just fallen to pieces, and she was the first one he had confided in and the first to give him advice. She had told him that he was going to be okay.

And he was okay.

When he dated Tasha King, of course he hadn't expected it to last. Deep down he knew that she wasn't right for him. She was a beautiful woman, and fun to be around. But she wasn't the FBI agent he had fallen for hook, line, and sinker.

Even so, he tore himself up inside when Tasha was shot right before his eyes. Natara was the one who assured him that it wasn't his fault, but he hadn't believed her.

When he finally felt that he could let it all out and tell her how he felt, Oscar Santos came into the picture. Mal had selfishly wished that Natara would turn Oscar down, but before he knew it he was watching them walk out of the bullpen together.

And after a year of their partnership, Mal was able to return the advice Natara had given him. Despite his jealousy of Oscar, it angered him that someone could break up with such an incredible woman.

_"Special Agent Natara Williams?" Mal smiled as he squeezed her hand. "I think you're going to be okay."_

For a while he thought that it was time. But he wasn't sure where Natara stood with Oscar. And when Natara had been held hostage along with several others, Mal let it all out.

He knew everything about her. Even the little things like her favorite food.

_"It's Chinese take out," he said casually. "Oh, sure she likes to act all fancy and claim she likes French gourmet or high end Thai... But there's nothing she likes more than a nice paper box full of Mongolian beef." He watched as Natara smiled softly._

He loved her more than anything.

_"Now, I wasn't going to say anything for professional reasons, but honestly? I love her, Gil. I really,** really** love her."_

And when he thought about it, he knew just about everything about her.

_"You want me to prove it?" he continued. "Her birthday's October 24th. Her dad's name is Raj. She likes horses and hates cats. Look in her eyes, Gil. I'm not lying." _

And he was the single person who knew her one and only fear.

"In her darkest, loneliest hours, she worries that she's the kind of person who can't be loved... The kind of person that can't love back. She's been hurt, see... Hurt bad by someone she cared about... And she's afraid that she'll never be able to really trust another person again."

He could go even farther than that.

_"She's the bravest woman I've ever met, Gil. She's stared down serial killers and fought brutal criminals... But the one thing she's afraid of is that she might be too damaged to ever really be happy."_

He had fought his feelings for too long, but now they were escaping freely, his words pouring like rain, striking her like raindrops on a sidewalk.

_"I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be romantic. I wanted it to be the best moment of our lives."_

And then there was the one question. Did she love him?

_"Maybe she loves me. Maybe she doesn't. And if you that button, I'll probably never know. But you know what? I don't care. This last year, working with her? It's been the best damn year of my life. And all the C4 in the world can't take that away." He bent down and touched her olive toned cheek gently._

_"I love her. I always have."_

He wasn't sure how she felt, but opening up made him feel as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders.

_"Cut that a little close, didn't you?" Natara asked once she was unbound._

_"Oh, I had it handled, believe me..." He flashed a Fallon-trademark grin. _

_Natara smiled in return. "I'm sure you did. That was quite the little performance..."_

_Mal's smile faltered. "Right... All that stuff I said..."_

_Natara's expression fell a mere moment later. "You mean, what you said to get Gil's guard down... Your ruse." _

_Mal hadn't expected her to return his feelings, but he still felt himself crumble inside. "Yeah. Exactly. My ruse."_

_"Well... It was very convincing."_

_"Maybe I picked the wrong career," he said sadly. "Should have been an actor." He started to walk away, but Natara called softly after him._

_"Mal, wait... You should know I... I..."_

The moment came to an end as Gil raised his handgun and pulled the trigger. Blaise Corso let out a shout and hurled herself in front of Mal, the bullet impacting against her shoulder. She had saved Mal's life so he and Natara could be together.

Once Blaise had been patched up, he and Natara both stood on the deck beside each other. Neither of them spoke for several long moments. The silver stars in the sky shined against the deep blue of the night, the white moon illuminating their world.

"Did you really mean it?" Natara asked softly.

Mal turned to face her, his piercing blue eyes meeting her soft hazel ones. "Agent Williams..." He reached out and played with a strand of her ebony hair before kissing her softly. "Does that answer your question?"

Natara blushed and chewed her lip. "Actually, Detective Fallon... it does."

Can you say cheesy as a cheese commercial? But I had fun writing that. Now, can y'all be a bunch of awesomes and review?

And I'm changing my penname the moment I post this! I will no longer be SVUProductions and I will be The Sarcastic Polar Bear. Just lettin' ya know.


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